Religious fervor and hysterical ignorance have been the trademark of the Christian church since its begining. It truly amazes me that more people of the twenty first century still base thier lives on a fairytale. I have read theXtian bible hundreds of times trying to find anything that woud justify continuing to believe in it. I found nothing but a very intricate fabricaion meant to control the ignorant masses I analyzed thier philosophy and found that it was impossable for any normal human to live by it and remain sane. Take the witch hunts for example, people were tortured, murdered in most horrible ways, forced to confess to terrible crimes before thier God by those selfsame Xtian Priests. Following the Christian religious morals and laws causes serious psychological abberrations. Hence the atrocities commited in the name of thier god during the Witch hunts as well as the Inquisition, it's about time someone recognized the utter absurdity of it all. Consider also the current abberant behavior by thier clergy and one can easily see that thier religion is sick and terribly twisted. Hail to the padoners

_________________________
"That which does not kill us makes us stronger""The dreams of youth are the regrets of maturity"

This is reaching down into the bowels of stupidity, and pulling out a big juicy historical turd for the sake of publicity.

It's a bit late to pardon someone.. AFTER you've executed them for the crime. Alot of good that does.

And what measures have this redeeming court done to prevent false accusations from ever happening again? I doubt they will ban Christianity, or hold it accountable for the unjust deaths of these people. This kind of sanctimonious, "after the fact asskissing", pisses me right the hell off.

Which is a good thing, because I need more pent up anger and frustration to release in a Destruction Ritual....

_________________________
"Many people would sooner die than think - in fact, they do so." ~ Bertrand Russell

"“Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine.” ~ Nikola Tesla

Maybe there is a problem with my English. But they are going to "Pardon" them? Sounds like they are forgiving the non existent crime. An official apology ceremony would be better. Though like previously stated, it wouldn't really mean sh*t.

Quote:This is reaching down into the bowels of stupidity, and pulling out a big juicy historical turd for the sake of publicity.

It's a bit late to pardon someone.. AFTER you've executed them for the crime. Alot of good that does.

And what measures have this redeeming court done to prevent false accusations from ever happening again? I doubt they will ban Christianity, or hold it accountable for the unjust deaths of these people. This kind of sanctimonious, "after the fact asskissing", pisses me right the hell off.

Which is a good thing, because I need more pent up anger and frustration to release in a Destruction Ritual....

I agree. It seems more like some kind of mega-goodguy badge, if you ask me. Besides, Christians still thrive because of their "burn the Witches" metality. The Witches being Satanists, Gays, Marilyn Manson, Elvis, or anyone else who doesn't fit into their primitive and impossible idea of "right".

Pardon yourselves, sheep.

_________________________
They are doomed because they cannot even glimpse beyond the construct that their masters have put into place. Their masters are doomed because they believe in the construct they created.

I think the same! When they say "witches pardoned" they are implying they were witches after all. We know they probably were poor old ladies that happen to own a broom (in the middle ages cleanliness was a sure sign of Devil possession) people with epilepsy or mental disorders and maybe some local healer with knowledge of medicinal herbs.

Instead of pardoning a nonexistent crime, they should admit innocent people were murdered.

We all know where the real witches were. Sleeping with the inquisitor.

_________________________You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once.Robert A. Heinlein

A SCOTTISH town is to mark Halloween by granting official legal pardons to 81 supposed witches executed during a frenzy of religious fervour about 400 years ago.

Descendants of some of the women put to death in Prestonpans, just east of Edinburgh, will attend a ceremony to mark the witch hunts in the town during the late 16th and 17th centuries.

More than 3500 Scots were executed amid a resurgence in Catholic feeling during the Reformation period that reached a peak under King James VI, later crowned King James I of England.

Many were condemned on evidence such as owning a black cat or cursing a neighbour who subsequently fell ill.

Among those executed was one woman who confessed under torture to leading a coven responsible for a storm intended to sink the king's ship as he returned from Denmark with his fiancee.

The 81 pardons were obtained in the Prestoungrange Baronial Court, an ancient body which will be abolished next month under a law removing the last vestiges of feudal authority in Scotland.

At this weekend's ceremony, the pardons will be publicly declared, and a wreath laid at a specially commissioned plaque.

Local historian Roy Pugh, who presented evidence about the witches' cases to the court, said it would be a "simple and solemn" ceremony.

"It will recognise the crimes that were perpetrated against these people," he said.

"It's too late to apologise, but it's a sort of symbolic recognition that these people were put to death by hysterical ignorance and paranoia."

A spokeswoman for the court, Adele Conn, said the pardons would be for convictions under the Witchcraft Act 1735.

"There were some concerns that we've got the ceremony on Halloween, but we couldn't have a witches remembrance in the middle of March," she said.

"It has a serious purpose; we're respecting these unfortunate individuals."

At last after four hundred years these people are going to be pardoned! This prerogative of mercy in laymans terms simply means that the official record detailing a recorded conviction will be overturned by the Crown, or Home Secretary. Instead the historical record will be rewritten as a non-conviction and the defendants (hence the accused witches) will therefore be released from all consequences of conviction. Usually this can not be done unless the defendant applies to have the conviction overturned which in their case is going to be somewhat difficult if not impossible.Alright, so they are four hundred years late and these people have already being executed, but at least they are beginning to get the historical record officially changed to be accurate. It is important that the legal system admits to when it has been wrong and rectfies the situation. In this case it is rectifying historical records.There are three types of history. First there is the recorded history written or as archaeological evidence, then there is the history that we dont know, and last there is the history that some people want us to know.As Nemo said we are us and not our ancestors, but the significance of this is that history is being rewritten to record the truth at last. Hail Satan!

Thanks Nemo, and you are absolutely right it is absurd too. Its a little late after the act has been done!I wonder if four hundred years down the track the Xians will do the same thing and admit to all the wrong they have done and correct the history book? I must be living in a dream world hey Nemo.Hail Satan!

Sounds to me that a bandwagon has been started about respecting the rights of Wiccans, especially considering the idiocy with the Seattle school. I can't help but feel that it is intended purely to make a mockery out of Wicca (and by implication, other non-Christian religions) by making all these apologies to them without any real feeling behind it.

I did find it interesting to note that my local Ottaker's (book store) had a whole section for Wicca, and had "Witch's Make-up Set" and "Magical Toolkit" (with pictures of girls dressed up in front of a plastic cauldron), so the UK seems to have the opposite view .